Haney PRC Improves Productivity with Enercon Treater and HP Indigo Press
Haney PRC serves as a comprehensive industry resource after the design process all the way to the full print run. In order to provide its customers with the most innovative and high quality prototypes and mock-ups, the Haney brothers invested in an impressive collection of printing technology.
One of the company’s breakthroughs has come through its use of Enercon’s corona treating system on its HP Indigo digital web press.
“You have to understand a little bit about how the Indigo and some of the other digital printing technology works,” explains Haney. “They all require some sort of coating treatment for the ink to adhere to various substrates. A lot of what’s specified by the manufacturer of the ink systems is a solvent-based coating. We found by using the Enercon corona treater, we can use Indigo’s aqueous-based Sapphire coating on film. That’s something we’ve done [and] found that it works. HP doesn’t even know about it,” says Haney.
Haney continues: “Indigo’s Topaz coating is specified for films. Sapphire is specified for paper stock. If I buy paper stock in Europe, the acid or pH level is such that I don’t have to apply Sapphire to it. If I buy paper stock in the US, I need to apply Sapphire to it. Sapphire is environmentally friendly. It absorbs into the paper stock. That’s why it doesn’t have to have solvent in it.”
Haney contends the company’s understanding of surface treating and its importance to quality digital printing guided them in their experimentation with the Enercon system.
“We understand what corona treating is about. We suspected that [Sapphire] kind of had something to do with it, but we had no idea it would be so successful. We had no idea that it would be this consistent. And it’s been in large part one of the major reasons we’ve been able to do what we’re doing, and that’s a fact,” Haney maintains. “If you use Topaz, it has all kinds of drying problems, because it’s pretty aggressive. You can get picking and all kinds of other issues. But Sapphire is dried immediately. Boom you’re done; you’re off to the races.”
In its successful use of Sapphire on film, Haney commends Enercon’s corona treater for allowing the company to push the envelope. “Enercon is a top-notch company. The kind of company we want to associate with. They are best in class. They think strategically, make good equipment, and invest in technology and R&D.”
Haney also believes with this new method of treating film, digital printing can finally find its niche in the converting industry.
“I think people have this misconception of digital printing. That it’s a color copier. But it’s not. It’s printing. It’s ink on substrate, and you got to make it stick. You can’t have picking issues and de-lamination issues, and all sorts of other issues,” explains Haney. “You must understand surface tension, [and] the role corona treating plays relative to adhesion. I think if Enercon can drive that message into the digital printing side of it, it will help the digital printing side grow faster [within the converting industry].”
Haney PRC is building its business based on the concept of innovation, quality, and being able, as Haney describes it, to crawl inside their customers’ heads and know exactly what they want. Haney believes his company’s ability to push innovation through experimentation allows them to deliver on what they say they can provide to their clients.
